WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A group of bipartisan elected officials and leaders in health care,
including Theranos Founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, joined AmeriHealth
Caritas today for a conference marking the 50th anniversary
of Medicaid. The wide-ranging event highlighted Theranos’ innovative lab
services and commitment to lowering costs for the Medicare and Medicaid
programs and their beneficiaries. In a discussion moderated by former
Meet the Press anchor David Gregory, Ms. Holmes and Paul Tufano,
Chairman and CEO of Theranos strategic partner AmeriHealth Caritas,
discussed the role that technology can play in addressing the challenges
in health care, and Theranos’ leadership in providing its innovative
technology to Medicaid managed care members, a community that sometimes
lacks access to the latest health care advancements. Their discussion,
entitled “Driving Change Through Innovation,” also touched on comments
made late last week by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who called
Theranos “the laboratory of the future.”

“The anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid is an opportunity for us to
look back on the five decades of a landmark law that improved access to
health care, but it’s also an opportunity for us to look to the future
and ask what we want the next fifty years to look like. Today, 70% of
clinical decisions are based on lab tests and yet people have difficulty
accessing them. Our data show that at least 40% of lab test orders don’t
even get filled. This is a barrier to individuals engaging in early
detection and preventive care,” said Elizabeth Holmes. “Innovative
technologies can remove some of those barriers and bring high quality
services to everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, in convenient
locations and at convenient hours.”

The discussion also addressed the impact of increased costs on the
Medicare and Medicaid programs, citing Theranos’ transparent prices as a
model for the industry, including reducing the costs of laboratory
diagnostic tests. Much of the discussion built upon Holmes’ recent
delineation of a strategy for realizing a preventive health care system
in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. During her conversation with
Tufano and Gregory, Holmes elaborated on this point in the context of
the future of federal programs, saying that as we shift the paradigm
from reactive to preventive health care, Medicare and Medicaid will see
financial benefit from individuals who detect and address diseases like
diabetes and heart disease before more costly treatments are necessary
and outcomes are uncertain. “Medicare and Medicaid stand for the
proposition that cost should not be a barrier to health care. We believe
the same must be said of lab tests - nobody should have to forgo a lab
test because she can’t afford it or can’t figure out how much it costs.
Today’s lab tests are overpriced and the market does not function
because those prices aren’t transparent. Medicare and Medicaid are also
overpaying for lab tests, and that threatens the sustainability of these
crucial programs. We can achieve significant cost savings by making
tests available for a fraction of the going rate, and in doing so
facilitate better access to these tests that form the foundation of
early diagnosis and treatment. And we can allow the market to function
through price transparency and consumer engagement, fueling further
innovation which will not only improve the quality of care but also
provide associated cost reductions.”

Tufano emphasized the importance of enabling access for the underserved
to innovations like Theranos’ groundbreaking technology, saying “Our
vision for hosting an event on the 50th anniversary of Medicaid comes
down to the people we serve, the disadvantaged and chronically ill. I'm
energized by the diverse backgrounds represented at our full-day forum,
and inspired by the willingness of so many thought leaders to have an
honest dialogue about health care for those who are most in need.
Elizabeth's participation demonstrates the shared mission of both
Theranos and AmeriHealth Caritas. The technology offered by Theranos is
revolutionizing laboratory services across the United States and we want
our members to be some of the first who benefit from it. I'm excited
about the work our organizations will accomplish together.”

Theranos’ platform is a global model for health care, shifting the
paradigm away from diagnosis and treatment, to one focused on early
detection and prevention. The FDA recently cleared Theranos’ finger
stick blood test technology and underlying system on which those tests
are run, and approved a waiver that paves the way for putting Theranos’
tests in the field at point of care, a major milestone for the company
and the national preventive care landscape.

All of Theranos’ tests are the same price for everyone, regardless of
insurance status, and billed at rates 50% or more below the Medicare
reimbursement rate. Theranos is leading transparency in lab testing,
including committing to FDA review of all of its laboratory developed
tests and publishing its prices, lab proficiency testing scores,
customer satisfaction scores, guest visit times, and more.

About Theranos:

Headquartered in Palo Alto, Theranos, Inc. is a consumer health care
technology company. Theranos’ clinical laboratory offers comprehensive
laboratory tests from samples as small as a few drops of blood at
unprecedented low prices. Founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos’
mission is to make actionable health information accessible to people
everywhere in the world at the time it matters, enabling early detection
and intervention of disease, and empowering individuals with information
to live the lives they want to live. Visit us at theranos.com. Follow us
at @theranos.